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grip. He was mine, and I
didn’t share. But as I held him, time ticking away, the muscles remained
relaxed. I tried not to weep with disappointment.
    So
clearly I remembered the morning he’d left for this last mission. A morning I’d
taken for granted, thinking countless more like it were on the way. We’d been
in bed, naked, sweating from a wild pleasure-fest.
    “I
don’t want to leave you,” he’d said. His fingers had traced the ridges of my
spine.
    “I
don’t want you to leave me, either. Maybe I’ll hold you prisoner.”
    He’d
chuckled. “God, I love you. I’m even addicted to you. Get twitchy without you.”
    “Good,
’cause I tend to get homicidal without you.”
    Another
chuckle. “Too bad that happens while I’m gone. You know I love to exhaust you
into calmness. For world safety, and all that, because I’m such a giver.”
    “Well,
I feel a hot rush of fury suddenly sweeping through me…”
    “Do
you, now? Let’s see what I can do about that.” He’d kissed me then, a hot,
breath-stealing kiss that had rocked me to my soul.
    “Come
back to me, baby,” I whispered now. “I need you.”
    His
fingers twitched.
    I
uttered another of those shocked but happy gasps. “Rome?”
    His
eyelids began to flicker open.
    “I
think…I think he’s waking up,” Lexis said excitedly.
    My
heart nearly burst from my chest when his eyelids finally remained open. Thank
God. Thank God, thank God, thank God. Rome really was awake. He was going to be
okay. I twined our fingers so we were holding hands like we did every night
after making love. His skin was callused and hot, so amazingly hot. So
wonderfully familiar.
    I
breathed deeply, taking in his warmth, his deliciously feral scent. My heart
kicked back into gear and fluttered wildly. I was so energized—and had been so
upset—I could feel a wind swirling inside my head, a blend of the negative and
positive. Maybe that wind blustered even outside my body, since my hair was
dancing around my shoulders. I didn’t care, though. One of my tornados could
gust through the room, and I wouldn’t have budged from Rome’s side.
    I
wanted to be the first person he noticed, truly noticed. In my mind, I could
already visualize him smiling warmly, love and lust gleaming at me.
    Then,
finally, blessedly, his eyes lost their glaze of sleep, gradually becoming
alert. He glanced around the room and frowned in confusion.
    “Hey,
Cat Man,” I said softly. “You were out in the field and got hurt, but you’re
going to be fine. You’re back with PSI now.” You’re back with me. “You’re safe.”
    His
gaze locked on me. His frown deepened and his brow furrowed. “Who are you?”
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    “Okay
, what the hell is going on?” I shouted, trying to tamp down the flames already leaping inside
me.
    “Keep
your voice down,” John, my boss, said, shaking his head in exasperation.
    “Your
walls are soundproof so there’s no need for quiet.” We were inside his office
at PSI headquarters, Lexis, Cody and Tanner with us. Everyone was seated.
Except me. I was pounding from one wall to another, too agitated to stay still.
“If I don’t get some answers, I’ll do more than shout!” And they all knew it
was true.
    So
far, I’d managed to keep a tight leash on my super-reactions. Maybe because I
was numb. A numbness that was due to shattering disbelief. I was a freaking
stranger to my own fiancé.
    I
kept replaying his rejection through my mind, trying to make sense of things.
    “Stop
kidding and give me a hug,” I’d said to him after his “Who are you?” crack.
Lexis had already taken off to find John, so it was just the two of us. We
should have been making out by then.
    “I
don’t want to hurt you, lady, but if you don’t move away from me I’m going to
snap you in half.” He’d ripped free of my grip and gritted out, “John.” He
looked past me to the door, searching for any sign of our commander.
    “Rome,”
I’d said